Usage of residential set-top boxes (STBs) in commercial locations (RSiCLs) is a major problem for service providers (SPs).
As one simple example, a subscriber having a service agreement with an SP may lease or purchase an additional residential STB at a lower “residential” price, but make use of the additional residential STB at a commercial location for commercial use. Typically, commercial STBs command a much higher price than residential STBs. The illegitimate commercial use of the additional residential STB is a violation of the service agreement between the subscriber and the SP.
A typical mechanism for detecting such illegitimate use (sometimes referred to as “pub detection”) is to send a multitude of operational security (OPSEC) workers simultaneously to a multitude of commercial establishments and use overt broadcast fingerprinting to display the IDs of the STBs. As is apparent, such a mechanism uses significant human resources and inconveniences both residential and commercial owners of legitimately used STBs.
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